Help with Speech Delays

I also have problems with my sons speech, they are/were with the Bay to Bay ECI program, but that is only till their third b-day. So when my oldest turned 3 I took him to our local school, they evaluated him and started speech, free of charge. Also, when you want him to pronounce something clearly, get him to look at your mouth while you say it and show him how to make the sound. Also if you can get him to drink everything (including pudding, yogurt, or whatever you give him) it will help him build up muscles in his mouth. Anyway, i would call the school and ask to speak to the speech therapist there to see if they offer any help to children that are not enrolled in school. I hope this helps, and good luck.

Hi,
I am a Speech Therapist. You can get your son evaluated at your school district for free once your child has turned 3 years old. Here is a website that might help you out. http://parentpals.com/gossamer/pages/Speech_and_Language/....

There are tons of sites out there. It is better to get him checked out and started earlier if he has a problem so that it won't cause later delays in school. Can other people understand him? Does he leave sounds off of end of words? The Speech Therapist might tell you everything is normal for his age and he can wait until later to receive speech services. Sounds develop at different ages so it would be o.k. for him to say some sounds such as r and s wrong right now but would be not normal when he is in 1st grade. I hope this helps you out.

Every school district should provide free speech testing for all children, as long as they are zoned to that school. If you don't have older children in elementary school, find out what school your child will go to (assuming they will go to public school) and make an appointment with the speech therapist. If your elementary school does not have a regular one on staff, then call the district office and they will direct you to one. It's free and worth the time doing it.

My 3 year old was very speech delayed until recently. He still slurs some letters or mixed letters. Problem was, everybody in our house understood him so let the "mistakes" go, so it became habit. Or, they started pronouncing things the way he did ("ganket" instead of "blanket", "cruck" instead of "truck", so forth), so he thought it was correct.

As other moms said -- speak clearly and slowly with your child. Don't correct him/her when he says words incorrectly because that just frustrates them, but instead repeat his/her sentences or words correctly. If he says "Ook at dat cruck", you should reply, "Yes sweetie, look at that big red truck. It's a pretty truck isn't it?".

Good luck.

When I ran my daycare in Tucson, AZ and I noticed a child that was having a speech impediment, I would do more songs and rhymes with them, this way they could practice their speech in a safe fun way- Remember kids learn better when they are having fun.. Introduce ways for her to need to use her voice more in her atmosphere- dolls, little kitchen to play house... have more playdates so that she can talk with other kids her age or a little older.. kids mimick and repeat each other and the adults they are with on a daily basis! 9 out of 10 times they grow out of bad speech habits when given good opportunities without ever having to see a doctor or speech therapist! Hope these ideas help!

Go to your schools speech department at the school administration. They can have you child into speech for help. My daughter went to speech when she was 4 at a local school for one hour. My husband dropped her off and then she walked to my room for the rest of the day until I got off of work. There are services out there.

If you are located within AISD city limits. I would called and see if your daughter can get screen for early speech services. I did that for my daughter but she did not qualify. Guess what, she qualified in kindergarten but did not start receiving services until lst grade. My suggestion is to get a speech evaluation. Another suggestion is to look at phonic programs for children. Some are earobics, sounds & bounds and jolly phonics. When you intoduce a sound have them look at your mouth making the sound and then look into a mirror.

STACIE, WHEN I Was small I had trouble speaking too. I went to a speach class at school and I remember that I learned how to use the th sounds and etc. Maybe there is a speech therapist that could help with that. C.

Hi S.,

I am a Speech Pathologist in Midland, Tx. Please do not wait to get your son evaluated. The earlier you can seek help, the quicker they respond to intervention! Your public school may help in Child Find. You can also check with your health insurance to see if there are any private therapists in your area that are providers for your insurance. The speech pathologist, after seeing your son, can give you specific things to work on with him. Otherwise, you are just doing more of a "shot gun" approach and may be working on things he doesn't need. If you are in my area, I would be happy to help you out. Good luck! L.

I have a friend that is doing private speech therapy at her home in Circle C if you are interested. She has worked in elementary schools all these years but, now is trying to make life easier on herself since she has 2 kids. You could always have him evaluated and set your mind at ease that his speech will come in time. Good luck.

Try "Hooked on Phonics". Also you need to make sure that you and your husband are enunciating your words clearly. One of my sons went though this when he was about 3. When he first started talking we could all understand him, by the time he was 3 only his older brother could. I did take him in for a hearing test and was told that he wasn't hearing what was actually coming out of his own month. They make a simple telephone out of a quart milk carton. Then they would tell him a word and have him repeat it into the "phone" so he could see if what he said matched what he heard. If it didn't they worked with him until he could repeat what he heard. In some states you can get hearing test and therapy free for small children. Don't put off getting this corrected, it will make a big difference in both his social development and grades once he starts school.

A little about me:

Married, mother of 5. I am now 55 and all my children are grown.

One of the best things you can do is speak normally to your child. Baby talk is o.k. sometimes, but they learn to talk from you, so the way you speak to them is what they will pick up. All kids are different don't let others tell you your child has a problem, you know your child best and if you can understand him and others in your family understand him I wouldn't worry. Most 3 year olds are hard to understand unless your around them all the time. But if you want to start with books and such, reading anything to them is good and if you want to go for the big guns you could try Hooked on Phonics.

Call the elementary school that he will go to and have him evaluated. If he qualifies for the program, he should also qualify for special transportation to and from school & home/daycare. Look up TASB online if the school doesn't cooperate, they help regulate the laws. If you go in knowing your rights, you will be better off.

I agree with Stephanie, you should not put off having your son evaluated. It's nothing to panic over, but the more time he'll have in theraphy the more likely he'll be caught up with his peers by Kindergarten. My son loved his theraphy time even at 3 years old and I'm thankful that I was surrounded by knowledgable people who advised me to get him evaluated sooner than later. Good luck!

Hey S. have you tried talking to a therapist about your sons speech cause it's help out there for you.Try going to www.depelchin.com and see what they can offer you on that information.The ECI program is good to I heard about that from a friend.

My second daughter had the same problem, I could understand and even translate for her. But I discovered if I wasn't around she would get very frustrated when others could not understand her. I took her to the public school elementary. Her speech problem ended up being developmental, unless a child is evaluated you won't know if it is baby talk or developmental. The therapist check to see how the child moves their tongues and cheeks while they are talking and making sounds. She was 3 1/2 or 4 and began therapy right away and continued it through 4th grade. She is now in 5th grade out of speech therapy and doing great. She loved her therapy, I will always remember when she was able to make "s" sounds she came home with a huge smile and said " mommy look I can pull the snake through my teeth now" then she said "SSSSSSSS" as she pulled an imaginary snake from between her teeth. Therapy was the best thing that I ever did for her. I didn't even notice she had a problem at first, after all I could understand her. But I had learned her language.

It looks like you have received a wealth of good advice for your son regarding speech development.
The only other thing I would add, and it may not apply to your situation, but if you son is still using a pacifier I would eliminate it. It robs children of opportunities to practice speaking. We have a two year old grandchild who is also slow to speak and when he tries to utter any word it sounds like he is talking with something in his mouth, it seems like his brain is trained to the feel of this unnatural object in his mouth. We urged his parents to wean him off of it after his first birthday, but they always wanted to keep him "pacified", so the pacifier was in his mouth for nearly all of his waking hours until just a few months before his second birthday.